I got rejected because my school screwed up my transcript.

Applying to College
21

<ol>
<li><p>Contact the admission office of the schools you applied to by phone. No voicemail, no secretary, get ahold of an actual official and explain the situation. Ask what steps they want you to take next, and explain what steps you plan on taking. Be calm, but very insistent!</p></li>
<li><p>If your school councelor is not responsive to sorting this out step by step with you, don't be afraid of going one level up. This is a major screw-up on your school's behalf, and something they must be held responsible for. Again, don't be angry, just straightforward about this being their responsibility they WILL have to personally help you fix. </p></li>
<li><p>Ask for a corrected transcript: a personal letter from your current school explaining their mistake; and for them to directly contact the admission offices about sending the new material.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Best of luck. It is possible to come out of this stronger than when you went in, but it requires you to show the authorities you are dealing with that you are both calm and fully clear as to what is going on and whose fault it is. Be polite, not a push-over!</p>

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<p>sigh...I dont know...this was not the first time this kind of thing happened. Before, my counselor lost the teacher recommendation letters and school report to one of the colleges and i had to ask her to fax them at the last minute, and she seriously did not feel any guilty about that all. This kind of thing not only happened to me, but it happened to DOZENS of students at our school with different counselors..</p>

<p>I did talk to my counselor and all she said is that she will be not held responsible. i mean, what the ****? I don't know if i want to deal with this anymore and go through all this again. Added to that fact, the principal of our school is NEVER here. I know I am really frustrated, but I just don't have the energy nor the motivation to go through all of this process again. I'm fine with the college i'm going now, but man...I don't really know anymore.</p>

23

<p>If it's that bad throughout the school structure, you could consider going to the local newspaper in addition to all the other steps people have suggested. Usually I think talk about going to the media etc is an exaggeration, but in your case, it sounds like the school has serious issues it might need outside attention to start fixing.</p>

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<p>STOP TALKING TO YOUR COUNSELOR!!! It's pretty clear she doesn't give a rat's behind about you.</p>

<p>START TALKING TO YOUR EVERYBODY ABOUT IT!! Talk to HER boss...CALL your principal...talk to any assistant principals. Tell teachers, students, whomever you can, so that there will be some SERIOUS consequences. The newspaper idea isn't half-bad either.</p>

<p>YOU cannot let this blow over, especially when this kind of stuff can literally affect the rest of your life in more ways than one. And not to mention the fact that it COULD happen to somebody else at your school if changes aren't made...think about how you feel now. Would you want your siblings (if you have any) to feel the same way?</p>

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<p>ohmygosh. this stuff actually happens?</p>

<p>its so unfortunate this happened to you, but i'd do something before its too late. =S i mean, we're talking about the next four years of your life.</p>

<p>i hope something like this doesnt happen to me next year. =S</p>

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<p>Admissions officers are generally accomodating if you try to get in contact with them. IE they could set up a special process, where you could enter in winter or spring, instead of the regular fall.</p>

<p>At least from my experience, colleges contacted me when they either missing or required more information. </p>

<p>However, it seems that the OP is content with his or her current college. In that case, i'd recommend the OP to think hard about getting into a better college and the benefits of doing so. </p>

<p>Throwing a fit or being angry is 99% of the time utterly useless. Is finding the counseler responsible important? Or even finding the principal? If they can contact individual colleges and apologize for you, sure then it's worth contacting them. If they fail to act for you, then act for them. Ask for your transcript that is officially sealed and mail the transcript yourself. College admissions hotlines are a call away, and telling them the urgency of your situation takes a mere 5-10 minutes. </p>

<p>Focus on persuasion and fixing the problem. Don't be discouraged, none of us will pass through life unscathed by problems. Problems are normal, and should be met with optimism. Throw away those useless feelings of discouragement and focus on analyzing the benefits of a better college relative to the college you are headed towards now. Motivation can be discovered by becoming aware of what is at stake - the benefits of a better college, a better job, a better life. Ask yourself, is it worth it? If so, what course of action needs to be taken? Make a plan or follow frrrph's plan.</p>

<p>You're on the way to becoming an independent college student now, learn to be steadfast and proactive. One of the first things I learned in college was that failing to act will simply compound problems...</p>

27

<p>you've been given a lot of good advice ... I'd like to add one thing ... if a lot of schools will not reconsider your application given a corrected transcript I'd consider a gap year ... because reapplying next year could result in much better results. Hopefully, things will work out this year but if not a gap year is an option.</p>

28

<p>Just by reading this I was getting really ****ed off myself! Seriously though, you need to be cool, calm, and collected. If your guidance counselor won't listen, speak to the principal. If you can't get with him/her go to the damn superintendent. Seriously. Let everyone know. More importantly, set up a meeting with some of these colleges that you were denied from. Most importantly though, don't be an ass, for several reasons. First off, even though you are rightly angry, it shows negatively on your character (just as damaging to college apps as whatever was changed on your transcript) Second, you should remember that ultimately, some could say you are to blame. It was your responsibility to have checked your transcript, even though you should be able to trust your school, better safe than sorry. So to recap, tell everyone about this in an assertive manner (not aggresive or passive) and for all juniors, that's including me, check your transcript twice and ask for a copy of it. Good luck!!</p>

29

<p>first try to get in and get accepted to the schools. Yes, by all means talk to the principal.</p>

<p>If you still do not manage to get accepted, there is no doubt that you should sue for personal damages. The chances of winning are quite high i would say.</p>

30

<p>You know what? You are still a minor child and there are times when a parent's intervention is required. This is one of those times.</p>

31

<p>And I would bet you are not alone, if your was messed up, so were others most likely, i would let it been known to EVERYONE, every student, how they messed up your transcritp. and each and every kid should go in and verify, from seniors on down, bet that might make the GC take notice</p>

<p>Sometimes you fight a battle not for yourself, but for others</p>

<p>You GC, well, SOMEBODY is responsible and it is her job to find out who that was, she is just hoping you will go away and leave her alone</p>

<p>Don't make it that easy</p>

<p>You are in a college, you have nothing to lose by making an issue of this, with your parents right with you</p>

32

<p>well, I am still frustrated, but I do not intend to take any legal action. Our family cannot afford a lawyer, and my parents cannot speak english. and oh yea, i am not a minor child. I'm 18.</p>

<p>The school I am going to is UC Berkeley. I got in out of state, and I am fine with it. (I got rejected by UCLA though). I am guessing I got in because UC's do not require any transcripts to be sent or any recommendation and other crap. I listed the courses and grades myself, fortunately. I guess that's a very big plus for the UC apps. You get to actually do the whole damn app by yourself without any worries....Thank God...</p>

<p>However I was rejected by NYU, which was confusing to me. I thought it was a match. As for the top schools, I got rejected by UVA, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins. I thought I had a solid chance at these schools, but I did not EVEN get waitlisted.....so yea, the missing classes in my transcript DID lower my GPA and my class rank (it had dropped about 5%).. But i'm beginning to think, even if i sued and asked the colleges for reconsideration of my application, what if they still reject me? Will all this be worth it in the end? I mean, will my fixed transcript really make that much of a difference?.....to tell you the truth, now, i am not really that excited about getting into those schools either...</p>

<p>sigh... I dont know. But what I will at least do is talk to my friend who is in journalism and GET THIS STORY PRINTED on the school newspaper, putting it together with stories of students who had other similar incidents in my school...So this will help other students in the future as a warning, and encourage them to be more careful, or even transfer to a different high school....and that's as far as i'm going with it. After that, I'm done. I'm just gonna see what happens, and then Im just gonna go to cal....</p>

<p>BUT, if i did not get into ANY colleges, then yes, I would take more action....so I guess this shows how much of a wuss I am...but i guess I am not entirely angry because i still got into at least one good college.</p>

<p>edit:
and yea, I am prob gonna quit CC now too....just gonna concentrate and study for ap exams...</p>

33

<p>I was not suggestng suing, but at a minimum making a bit of a stink, and make the school check each transcript</p>

<p>the UC do want to see a final transcript at graduation, so you better make sure it is correct</p>

<p>by spending a little bit of time, spreading the word at your school, so other kids get their transcripts checked, the office will have no choice but to do it, and thus you can save some other kids the same hassle</p>

<p>If you just let it go, the school will as well</p>

<p>I would also document everything, like you have here, and send it to the principal, and reigstrar, with a copy to the school board, especialy the GCs response and the really not caring much about a huge mistake</p>

<p>Colleges count on HS's being accurate, and if you HS is messing stuff up, well....I would also send copies of my letter to each college, saying you aren't expecting anything just an FYI, and let your school know you are doing that...it will take very little time, but the schools response was pathetic at best and very callous and cold</p>

<p>THey may do nothing, but at least you know you tried</p>

34

<p>i think that the smartest move you can do is to get your parents involved...
and yo principal....</p>

<p>i dont think this is the situation that u can just get over...</p>

35

<p>Its time for a lawsuit.</p>

<p>Someone is going to have to take responsibility for this.</p>

36

<p>I second Cardene. Do something about it. Yes, you've been accepted by UC-Berkeley, but your rank was dropped significantly, probably causing you to be rejected at several other schools. It's not fair. My mom doesn't speak English either, but if they found out that something like this happened to me, they would support me 100%. There are lawyers that will be willing to help out.</p>

<p>If you let it go, you are sending the message that it is OKAY for your guidance counselor or counseling office to do this. It's NOT. It could have happened to other students. Please don't let this go -- do something about it.</p>

37

<p>Bring your parents in, even if they are unable to help advocate for you. It shows that they know and they care. Do you have a copy of the junior year (correct) transcript? This might be helpful in tracking down where the problem lies.</p>

<p>As a parent, I would be in with the head of guidance tomorrow AM, and if I didn't get satisfaction then, I'd be on to the principal's office.</p>

<p>The student newspaper is a great way to get the news out. Who knows how many kids this affected? Even if you are satisfied with your situation, think of all the others who may not even know if their transcripts were wrong. This can cost people thousands of dollars in scholarship money!</p>

<p>We had a similar situation -- a missing grade (data base error) was counted as a zero in the GPA -- we found out when reviewing the mid-year transcript and noticed that the cumulative GPA wasn't correct. The guidance office had no idea that missing grades were factored in that way. The data was all loaded in and calculated at the central office.</p>

<p>Rule for the future: always order an extra copy of the transcript so you can review it before the school sends them out!</p>

38

<p>My high school counselors ( except my migrant counselor ) are worth ****. I got into Berkeley, LA, and UCSD without their damn help. The one time I did ask one of them for help THEY HAD NO CLUE what to say to me. </p>

<p>If I were you I would go the top school official and DEMAND something from them.</p>

39

<p>Get your parents involved. Get the colleges involved. And make sure your counselor gets fired. I'm surprised college counselors like that still have jobs. Some people deserve to be unemployed.</p>

40

<p>Get the counselor fired. Make a big stink. Raise all hell. You're counting on the school to be accurate, and so are colleges. This kind of mistake is unacceptable. Even if you're happy with your college choice, if you had gotten into the other schools you might have chosen a different school. But don't sue. And if you decide to sue, there are a lot of lawyers willing to do work pro bono.</p>